Reference no: EM132811201

The Tour de France began as a 200km bicycle race in 1903, as a means of boosting sales of L'Auto newspaper. controversy dogged the race from the start and the 'gamesmanship' of the 1904 race (such as fans sprinkling nails in the tracks of their competitors, or competitors using cars and trains to gain ground) nearly forced L'auto to call it off. By the 1920s, it was seen as the world's toughest bicycle race, in which manufacturers' teams battled it out. At that time the course was over 5500 km long and under severe rules, although, some felt, even then, that overt commercialism overshadowed the cycling.

In 1930 the competition amended its rules so that manufacturer teams were replaced by national squads (of eight riders, picked by the organizers and paid by the Tour itself); everyone rode identical bikes and a publicity caravan was introduced, to make the cash shortfall from the manufacturers and their teams. For the first time, radio covered the race. It was first televised in 1952, television being new then.

During the 1960s national teams were once again replaced by sponsored teams. In 1978 riders went on strike over split stages and transfers. Concerns over drugs became an issue when Pedro Delgado won in 1988, having tested positively for a substance banned at the Olympic Games, but not by the Tour's organizers.

In 1998 it was thought that one third of France's entire population lined the route, but the event was remembered not for the immense public support and interest, but for another publicized scandal about drugs. the banned substance EPO had been found in one team car, days before the race, and the testing of staff and competitors led to various teams being withdrawn and a string of arrests, including riders, team officials and doctors, prompting sit-downs and go-slows amongst the riders. the Festina team suffered the worst publicity, but sponsors stayed loyal to the event. Despite the festina team being at the centre of the media attack surrounding this race, the watch making firm has continued its sponsorship with confidence and remains a sponsor to the present day.

Since the days of the manufacturer teams, the Tour de france has been attractive to sponsors and they have stayed consistently loyal. For example, the US Postal Services began with a small team and a fairly low-key presence, but after 1997 replaced Motorola as the leading US team, expanding into a multinational effort that included Nike within its family of sponsors and confirmed its continuing involvement, despite some domestic criticisminto the USA of a public organization spending 'millions of dollars' abroad.

The Tour de France attracts many major national and international companies as sponsors: Nestle Champion, Credit Lyonnais and Ford formed the Club du Tour de France for the Centenary event, whilst Astra, Coca-Cola, Festina, Nike, POMU, Sodexho and France Telecom were Official Partners, The sponsorship family extended to embrace a further 13 official suppliers. Each year the sponsoring organization change a little and by 2009 the main sponsors had become Banque LCL and cafe de Columbia, with Antargaz, Alden, Skoda, Nike and AG2R le Mondiale as partners.

1. How do cycling and the Tour de France compare, as sponsorship opprtunities, with other sports and events?

2. How has the heritage of the race, including some of the negative aspects, affected the outlook for event, team and personal sponsorship?

3 What impliocations are there for ensuring that each of the several sponsoring companies gets an optimum return?

4 Why do sponsoring companies or organization change and how might a long running sponsorship relationship be maintained?